Masters track and field: Old-school globe trotter

Just like the trusty watch that professes to keep on ticking, Radiff just keeps on running — competitively.

Not even age has slowed down the 62-year-old Pueblo County High School coach, who heads the boys track and boys and girls swimming programs.

Hand-in-hand, they could move on in time.

Radiff is not your average aging runner either, choosing to race at sprinter speed rather than the more popular slow-endurance distances.

For the past 20 years, Radiff has extended his own athletic career, jetting around the globe to compete in World Masters Championships track meets.

He delved into the senior division (40-and-older) competition following a stint with the Pueblo Crusaders semipro football team at age 38.

“I wondered what I was going to do next and decided I’d become a masters runner and give that a try,” Radiff said.

But don’t let the “masters” category fool you. This guy still can run, matching strides against top-caliber runners — noteworthy opponents such as former U.S. Olympians Lee Evans (1968) and Alonzo Babers (1984).

He finished sixth to Babers in the 300 meters at an indoor meet at the Air Force Academy, and found himself lining up (in lane 1) against Evans, a former world record-holder (in lane 3), at his first world meet, in 1993 in Miyazaki, Japan.

Radiff has qualified for eight world championships, the most recent in October in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he competed in the 60-64 age group.

He pulled a hamstring in his first event (100-meter dash), but battled through the nagging injury to run all four events in which he had qualified (100, 400 dash, 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles).

His lone medal, a silver, came in the 4 x 400 relay on which he ran the second leg for the U.S. team. He also advanced to the finals in the 100 high hurdles, finishing seventh, with the bum wheel.

While the injury hindered Radiff’s performance, it hasn’t dampened his spirit. Already, he is preparing for the next world meet scheduled in 2015 in Lyon, France. The masters championships are held biennially.

His competitiveness and the camaraderie he’s gained through two decades of international competition keep him going, Radiff said.

That and the desire to bring home a gold medal, specifically in the 400 hurdles.

“Why wouldn’t that be my goal?” Radiff asked emphatically, shaking off his injury-plagued showing in Brazil. “It was my most challenging meet, but I’m not giving up. Life goes on. I learned from this meet that you never, never give up.”

But then, Radiff always has aimed high, even as he has grown older.

He was a three-sport letterman at Roncalli High School, where he was an all-conference football selection in 1970 as a defensive safety, the Shamrocks’ sixth man in basketball and a four-time state qualifier in the long jump and triple jump.

Radiff later ran track at then-Southern Colorado State College. Coach Jim “Spank” Blasing deemed him a 400 man “because we had too many good triple jumpers. ‘Spank’ told me we only needed three jumpers and I was the fourth.”

So Radiff began running the 400 meters and was fast enough to vie for an invitation to the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials.

“I ended up going but couldn’t run because 46.80 (seconds) wound up being the qualifying time.” His best was a 46.84.

Not to worry.

Radiff never lost interest in playing football and his speed made him a natural wide receiver and punt returner. So at age 38, that’s what he did ­— play for the national champion Crusaders.

He’s also logged 502 games through the years playing in year-round flag football leagues.

“That’s been where I’ve kept my competitive edge, playing against 22-year-olds,” Radiff said of his continuing flag football career.

He opted for the masters track circuit when he turned 40 and made his trip to the world games in Japan.

Through the years, that elusive gold medal — heck, even a chance to climb on the podium as an individual place winner would be great — has loomed in the back of his mind.

“I’ve been so close,” Radiff said, noting that he barely missed in 2007 at the Riccione, Italy, meet. “I was winning (the 400 hurdles finals) but hit the last hurdle and went down and they caught me.” He finished fourth.

“I was within a split-second” of winning, he remembered.

Radiff is excited about the recent installation of an all-weather track at Pueblo County High School.

“It will help with my training,” he said. “I can work out any time, the year-round. Now, I can train properly and not compete on pure willpower,” he said.

“I’ve rubbed elbows with some of the world’s best and I’ve had some really good experiences.

“But I’ve got to get a picture. I want that first gold and to get on the podium. I didn’t leave it out there on the field. It is something I have to get.”